Here’s how:
Take 3-4 soapberries per wash, add softener according to your local hardness of the water (I use zeolithe) and a few drops of essential oil for a better smell if you wish (like lavender or orange). All of this has to enter the washing mashine together with the laundry. A small cotton pouch is delivered with the berries, I find it more convenient to use a small a plastic container with holes in the lid.

Further information:
http://www.waschnuss.com/eng/index.html

She also taught me that hot water was a waste of energy. That most clothes did best in cold water. We don’t even have the hot hooked up to our machine. Once a month I put hot water in from the sink and do our cotton undies and socks. Otherwise they are washed in cold as well. She never used hot water- ever.

If you do use a dryer- don’t use dryer sheets. They are bad for your dryer (according to our daughter’s repairman).

Vegan-I looked up your idea and found this http://www.ehow.com/how_4722643_use-ammonia-laundry.html?ref=Track2&utm_source=ask
Never heard of it. I will have to try it- thanks for the lead!

What’s next? It’s illegal to park anything other than a luxury car in your driveway?

I recently bought a front loading washing machine. 600 dollars vs top loaders of 3 to 4 hundred. 150 cash back from Calif and my local utilities. My old top loader used over 50 gallons per wash, the front loader uses 17. We wash a lot and the new washer saves us over 1500 gallons of water a month. That’s about 10 dollars worth a month, which pays back the difference from front to top loader in under 2 years.

To get back on point, the front loader has an incredibly fast spin cycle and the clothing comes out so dry it would greatly reduce line drying time.

Well, I guess we know the answer to that question to some extent.

Two years ago, the streets were lined with “Starter homes in the low 400s”. Now we have print-out stapled to telephone poles from “shortsellersRus.com”. Every other business next to us (mobile home parks are put in areas zoned for business) has a big “for sale” sign posted on it.

Some times they stop watering the sidewalks every night sending a small river of fresh water down the drains. Then the grass starts browning to its natural color. Then they turn the faucets on again to reestablish the curb appeal.

It’s the smell of progress.

Now we wouldn’t want to look like the Beverly Hillbillies would we?

You can have a high end wooden swing set from a name brand company, but no rusting metal ones from World Mart or some silly Ace Hardware.

Also, no mowing your own grass. If you can’t hire a Landscaper Co, you don’t need to living here to begin with.

Clothes Lines? What?

With regards to the ancient and venerable craft of spinning, a single ply is fairly weak. That is fiber that is spun (twisted) in one direction (say, clockwise). Plying makes yarn stronger. The more plies, the stronger it is. Your wife’s pink yarn, if it’s commercial yarn, is probably a three- or four-ply. Plied yarn is made by taking however many strands that have been spun in one direction and then they are spun together in the opposite direction.

The strongest yarns are cabled. A cabled yarn is simply yarn that has been spun in one direction, plied in the opposite direction (actually OVERplied…given excessive twist), and then plied again in the first direction.

So, if your wife’s yarn turns out to be too weak as is, take a length of it twice as long as you want your clothesline to be. Twist it some more in the direction it was last twisted in order to overply it. You can figure this out if the yarn gets tighter and firmer. If it starts separating out into the individual plies, you’re going the wrong way. Once you’ve got it all twisted, keep it held taught, and bring the two ends together…basically folding it in half. Then let go, and it will twist around the opposite direction naturally. Voila! A cabled yarn.

I’ll leave it to you figure out how to put twist into the yarn. You’re a smart guy.

(Just don’t mix it with chlorine as really bad things will happen.)

The tip is to use less water by not rinsing your clothes. You don’t wash them with soap or detergent. You use ammonia. I’ve been washing my clothes in my hotel sink, so I use a couple capfuls of ammonia to a basinful of water. I think a quarter cup or half cup to a gallon is the ratio if you’re using a bucket or something.

It was mentioned that this method is good for clothes that aren’t stained or visibly soiled. The ammonia will evaporate and your clothes will smell fine. On the label of the ammonia, it mentions using it as a laundry additive, so I don’t think it is doing any harm. You’re simply just skipping the detergent.

I’ve really liked the results I’ve gotten.

Just read that some people have blamed the use of cooler water and no dryer for the increase in lice and other pests. No idea if it’s true.

The Tibbe-Line can also be used to transport clothing in a vehicle, as a space saver in the closet and for people in wheelchairs giving them access to their own clothes without help from anyone.

I have cut my laundry time by more than half as well as cutting down on my electricity consumption and electric bill not to mention saving money, energy, space, time and helping the environment.

The Tibbe-Lines retail set of 3 for $14.95 plus S&H. If you have any questions or want more information please feel free to contact me by phone or email 719-544ROSE(7673) or http://www.rose@tibbeline.com

I felt it deserved it’s own post, thus “Dry heat, undies and ceiling fans” at http://lessisfabulous.com/2010/06/11/dry-heat-undies-and-ceiling-fans/. Enjoy!

Look up how to tie a trucker’s hitch to be able to cinch the line up tight.

Cotton clothesline is the best in my long experience. Easy to tie, easy to undo, and easy to use for other purposes that you would normally use rope for.

Stay away from the plastic-coated stuff unless you are installing clothesline pulleys. Which are unnecessary unless you are installing a line out the second floor window (which some people do).

No, get the wooden ones with the metal springs.
They will last approximately 200 years by my estimation.

I got a bag of old ones at a yard sale (probably 25 years old already, hence made is the US), but you can buy them new at the hardware store too, thought the newer ones are wimpier and made in Mexico or China. (nothing against Mexico or China, I am just noting the difference).

They are good for keeping the wind from blowing your socks and underwear and shirts away.